By Business & Finance 
Pictured: Gavin Whelan, Head of Construction, Cairn Homes plc
This week sees new and notable appointments at Acumen Aviation, Cairn Homes plc, ABP, and Deloitte Ireland
Sean O’Connor, Managing Director Americas & VP-Commercial,
Acumen Aviation
Acumen Aviation, a Dublin based Aircraft Lease Management Company, is delighted to announce the appointment of Sean O’Connor as Managing Director Americas & VP-Commercial. Sean will be based in the Acumen Aviation Americas Inc offices in Miami reporting to Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) Eamonn Cronin.
Acumen Aviation CEO Alok Anand said: “Acumen has been making exemplary progress in providing Commercial and Lease management services to our customers. Sean’s appointment strengthens our trading and remarketing capabilities, along-with creating a firmer footing in the key American market. I welcome Sean to our fast growing team and wish him all the success in this exciting role.”
Mr O’Connor brings with him a rich and varied background spanning more than 40 years in the aviation sector. Sean has extensive industry knowledge, marketing, sales, technical expertise of the Americas region starting up FLS Aerospace USA Inc operations and the role of General Manager of SR Technics Americas. Sean held a number senior sales roles within the SR Technics Group.
Mr O’Connor joins Acumen from Universal Asset Management (UAM) where he held a management position.
Gavin Whelan, Head of Construction,
Cairn Homes plc
Cairn Homes plc, the leading Irish homebuilding company has announced Gavin Whelan as Head of Construction.
Pictured: Gavin Whelan, Head of Construction, Cairn Homes plc
Commenting on the new appointments, Michael Stanley, Chief Executive of Cairn Homes said: “I’m delighted to welcome Gavin to this strategic role within the company, adding to the exceptionally strong team that we have at Cairn Homes. As we continue to deliver high-quality and competitively priced homes to families, it’s important that we add the skills and expertise required to sustain growth for the long term. We are committed to investing in our people, to drive innovation in our work and Gavin’s appointment will add to this and to our performance as Ireland’s leading home builder.”
Mr Whelan joined Cairn Homes in January 2021 and as Head of Construction, he will be responsible for the overall management of building projects across our entire delivery platform. His role will involve driving productivity and enabling innovation to the business to allow Cairn Homes to continue to scale successfully.
Mr Whelan said: “This is a fantastic role and an exciting opportunity, and I am delighted to be joining the Cairn Homes team. My key objective is to lead and contribute to bringing Cairn to the next level of service excellence focusing on Cairn’s core values to make a positive difference.”
Prior to joining Cairn Homes, he held the role as Managing Director of Bailey Brothers Construction Management Services, a company he founded in 2017. In his role as Managing Director, Gavin managed business operations, strategic growth and the overall performance of the business. This business focused on improving collaboration and productivity, eliminating waste and the increased use of modern methods of construction.
Mr Whelan has previously worked and led some of the largest and most complex projects in London. He is experienced in leading and scaling large teams, most notably Battersea Power Station Phase two redevelopment where he acted as Construction Delivery Lead. He also spent 5 years working with Skanska where he held the position as Senior Project Manager. He holds a 1st class honours in Construction Management and Civil Engineering from Waterford Institute of Technology.
Kevin Cahill, Managing Director,
ABP
ABP is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin Cahill as Managing Director of its Irish and Polish operations. Mr Cahill will take up the role in March 2021.
Mr Cahill, who started his career in ABP, re-joins the Group from OSI where he was Managing Director Europe for the last five years. Prior to joining OSI, Mr Cahill spent twenty years with the Kepak Group. He is a Meath native and graduate of University College Cork (BComm).
Frank Stephenson, Group CEO ABP, said: “Kevin brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to this important role at this time.”
ABP Ireland & Poland is a division of the ABP Group. ABP is one of Europe’s leading privately owned agribusiness companies. It is the largest beef processor in the UK and Ireland. The company also operates substantial renewable (Olleco), pet food (C&D) and protein divisions. ABP employs over 11,000 people and has 47 manufacturing plants in the Ireland, UK, Denmark, Poland, Austria, Holland, France and Spain.
Brian Murphy, Partner, Audit & Assurance; James Anderson, Partner, Financial Advisory; Mark Degnan, Partner, Financial Advisory; Aisléan Nicholson, Partner, Tax; Tom Hynes, Managing Director, Consulting; Ronan McMahon, Partner, Consulting; Róisín Fitzpatrick, Partner, Tax & Legal,
Deloitte Ireland
Deloitte Ireland has appointed six new partners across its business. James Anderson and Mark Degnan have become partners in the Financial Advisory practice. Róisín Fitzpatrick and Aisléan Nicholson are now partners in the Tax practice. Ronan McMahon has been appointed partner in the Consulting practice and Brian Murphy has become a partner in Audit & Assurance. Deloitte Ireland has also appointed a managing director, Tom Hynes, within its Consulting business.
Pictured clockwise from top left: Brian Murphy, Partner, Audit & Assurance; James Anderson, Partner, Financial Advisory; Mark Degnan, Partner, Financial Advisory; Aisléan Nicholson, Partner, Tax; Tom Hynes, Managing Director, Consulting; Ronan McMahon, Partner, Consulting; Róisín Fitzpatrick, Partner, Tax & Legal
Commenting on the new appointments, Harry Goddard, CEO, Deloitte Ireland, said: “I am delighted to celebrate our partner and managing director appointments. The capabilities, leadership and expertise of these individuals have shaped the success of their teams, our business and our clients. 2020 introduced previously unimagined challenges for businesses across Ireland and internationally. As companies look to adapt and thrive post-pandemic and post-Brexit, I’m confident that our newly-appointed leaders will provide trusted support to help our clients navigate the ongoing challenges, as well as capitalise on opportunities to grow and succeed in 2021 and beyond.”
The new partners at Deloitte are:
James Anderson
James is a partner in Financial Advisory specialising in Restructuring Services. He has more than 16 years’ professional experience advising on restructuring, advisory and insolvency engagements across all industries. James has both advised and acted for corporates and financial institutions on a wide variety of restructuring matters. He has significant experience in Real Estate and Retail along with trading restructuring engagements.
James holds a Bachelor in Business Studies and is a fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland.
Mark Degnan
Mark is a Financial Advisory partner in our Restructuring team, with significant experience working across multiple sectors of our economy, including Aviation, Hospitality, Leisure and Real Estate projects. His expertise covers a wide range of restructuring advisory services, including corporate restructuring, lender advisory, contingency planning, and insolvency services for corporate, private equity, and financial institution clients. Mark is the lead point of contact for some of Deloitte’s largest restructuring service clients in the areas of lender advisory and due diligence for NPL acquisition, while assisting companies in assessing their restructuring options across a range of Financial Advisory solutions.
Mark holds a BA degree in Accountancy and is a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland.
Róisín Fitzpatrick
Róisín is a partner and qualified solicitor in Tax & Legal, where she is the Immigration Leader for Ireland. She has represented a large selection of global firms, including many Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller businesses and private clients with their immigration and compliance needs. Róisín has supported her clients across all sectors, advising on immigration workforce planning, immigration technology and regulatory advisory. She is focused on Irish immigration policy perspective, working with Irish immigration authorities and networks around Ireland. Her previous work in London during Brexit strengthened her policy and advisory experience. She delivers pro-active, practical and technology-focused solutions to immigration when supporting her clients. She has also been greatly involved in the corporate responsibility programme in Deloitte.
Róisín holds a first class Bachelor of Civil Law. She is a qualified solicitor in Ireland, England & Wales and was a participant of the Washington Ireland Programme where she interned at the Law Library of Congress, Washington DC.
Ronan McMahon
Ronan is a consulting partner in the Systems Engineering offering of Business Operations portfolio. He has more than 19 years’ experience in technology both in industry and professional services, having worked mainly in the financial services and public sectors. Ronan has extensive knowledge and experience of application development lifecycles and specialises in helping our Public Sector clients deliver technology-driven transformation programmes at scale.
Ronan holds a BSc. in Computer Applications from Dublin City University.
Brian Murphy
Brian is a partner in Audit & Assurance, within the Consumer & Technology Business team. Brian joined Deloitte five years ago and he has over 14 years of experience, providing audit and advisory services to a wide range of business sectors, including retail, manufacturing, construction/real estate, engineering, hospitality and technology sectors. His portfolio consists primarily of large privately owned businesses, both family and private equity backed.
Brian lectures and presents extensively on a range of topics including audit, financial accounting/reporting and finance on behalf of Chartered Accountants Ireland. He is past Chair of Chartered Accountants Ireland Leinster Society and is the current Chair of CA Support.
Brian holds a Bachelor of Business & Legal Studies degree from University College Dublin (UCD) and is a fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland.
Aisléan Nicholson
Aisléan is a Tax partner based in Belfast, focusing on the Northern Ireland market.
Before joining Deloitte Ireland, Aisléan spent more than 18 years with Deloitte UK, advising domestic and multinational companies on UK corporate and international tax matters, including business restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, financing structures, transfer pricing models and UK tax strategy.
Aisléan graduated with First Class LLB (Hons) Law and Accounting from Queens University, Belfast. She is a Chartered Accountant (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) and a Chartered Tax Adviser (Chartered Institute of Taxation).
In addition to our six newly-appointed partners, Tom Hynes has been appointed as Managing Director in Deloitte Ireland’s Enterprise Technology and Performance portfolio, where he specialises in finance transformation, target operating models and global business services.
Tom has extensive experience in providing programme and project management for large-scale finance transformation programmes including feasibility assessment, design and implementation of shared services and centres of excellence. He also supports clients to optimise their finance functions through the use of digital technology. Tom has over 20 years of management consulting experience and has worked with organisations across multiple industries including life sciences, technology, media, energy, financial services and the public sector.
Tom has a Masters in Accounting from UCD and a B.Comm from NUIG, and is a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland.
